Posted 16 December 2023

Plug in Solar Panels

I keep seeing ads for Solar Panels with an inverter that you just plug in to a electrical socket. These are sold by reputable organisations (including EDF). The ads I am seeing are not aimed at the UK market but would these work/are they available in the UK.
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  1. KodaBear's avatar
    Unless you have an electricity meter that allows for selling energy back to the grid you’ll instantly just trigger the tamper alarm on your meter for reverse energy and cause all kinds of problems.

    The regulations in the UK are quite strict for feeding energy in. Plugging in things like solar panels, generators or batteries directly into a regular power outlet would almost certainly go against these rules and potentially be unsafe too, whether for yourself or workers maintaining the electrical supply and cables outside.

    I haven’t seen the exact appliances you’re talking about, but by the sounds of it that wouldn’t really be considered acceptable for the UK. If you want solar panels you’d either have to get them professionally installed or run them through the likes of a Jackery/Anker/etc portable power station entirely separate to your grid supply.
  2. melted's avatar
    You mean they plug into a regular 240v 3 pin socket? Like a suicide lead?
  3. MT2045's avatar
    They are available, search for balcony solar systems uk
    One example is the Ecoflow Powerstream (there are quite a few negative reviews about this company though) I believe Anker do one too and others will follow. I looked at getting one last year but they sold out.
  4. mjccam's avatar
    You're not meant to do that here, but it would work. Solar panel, inverter and cable and plug it straight into the mains. The idea is that you use any energy you create first and the rest goes back to the grid. You wouldn't be paid for anything as its not a proper install but it could reduce your bills ( a little bit ).
    The best thing to do with solar panels is to connect them up to a battery system so that when it gets dark you can then use all the energy you've created
  5. gravy_davey's avatar
    Was looking at the process of installing solar panels and stumbled across someone who bought a solar panel, tesla battery and an inverter. Wired in a UK plug to plug into their ring main to effectively be off grid. For the love of god please don't do this. I'm not even a spark and can see many safety issues with this. Any damage to you home wouldn't be covered by your insurance either.
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